


The Cold Shoulder

by Sunshine_and_fuckin_rainbows



Category: Buzzfeed Unsolved (Web Series)
Genre: Ghosts, Oneshot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-14
Updated: 2018-08-14
Packaged: 2019-06-27 05:53:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,987
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15679320
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sunshine_and_fuckin_rainbows/pseuds/Sunshine_and_fuckin_rainbows
Summary: Shane’s acting weird today, and Ryan doesn’t know why





	The Cold Shoulder

     Ryan sighed as he waited impatiently at his desk. He forgot his laptop at Shane’s apartment again, and the man was running late for work.

     In fact, Ryan noticed that a lot of the desks were empty, with only a few interns zipping about aimlessly.

    He sighed as he sunk into his chair. Maybe he missed a memo about taking a day off, but he wouldn’t know unless Shane came with his damn laptop.

    Ryan jumped out of his skin as he felt a slight squeeze on his shoulder. “Woah, ya okay man?”

    Sarah smiled warmly at him, amusement in her eyes at his fear. She seemed a little less put together than usual, with her curled hair splayed slightly behind her. Her outfit seemed rumpled, as if she fell asleep in them. The bags under her eyes were also pretty prominent, but considering they still weren’t as bad as Ryan’s, he couldn't really mention it.

    He laughed nervously. “Hey, you startled me.”

    “It’s not that hard to do.” She quipped naturally, leaning against his desk.

    He rolled his eyes good naturedly, trying to hide his grin. “Anyway, have you seen Shane yet today? He has my computer, and I need to start editing the newest unsolved episode.

    She frowned slightly. “No, I haven’t heard from him, but I can text him to get a move on. He probably slept through his alarm again.” She pulled out her phone, and her frown grew deeper. “Huh, that’s… weird”

    Ryan glanced up. “What?”

    Sarah absently moved her hair behind her ear as she glared at her cell phone. “I have no signal in here, I always have signal in here.”

    He pulled his own phone out, only to see his had lost service as well. “That’s… really weird. Maybe a cell tower broke or something?”

    Sarah hums. “Yeah, or something…”

    Before Ryan could come up with another idea, Shane burst through the doors, startling everyone around him. Shane looked like shit. His face was unshaven and unkempt, all color drained except for the red rimming his eyes. His hair stood up in every direction, probably due to a lack of washing and an extreme case of bedhead. He sagged as he looked around, fresh tears pooling in his eyes. Surprisingly, the most obvious thing about him was his clothes. He wore a tailored black suit, with a simple black tie and white button up. His left arm was kept out of the blazer sleeve, instead hanging limply in an arm sling. His right hand was tightly gripping Ryan’s bag he left behind at Shane’s apartment. He completely ignored his two friends as he stormed off to the unsolved recording room.

    Ryan blinked. “What the fuck was that?” Shane ignoring Ryan was nothing new, but he never came into work without saying hi to his girlfriend.

    Sarah looked concerned, but shook her head. “I’m not sure, but I need to find Jen to give her some props I’m lending her today. Send him my way when you two are done, okay?”

    Ryan nodded before plodding off towards the recording booth. Once he reached the booth, he saw Shane, who was dazedly scrolling through his phone. He had slouched down so far into his chair that he was almost folded over on himself.

    Ryan glared at his friend. “Dude, what the fuck was that!? You always say hi to Sarah when you get here! And what happened to your arm?”

    Shane didn’t look up, instead pausing to read something. Tears started to fall down his expressionless face.

    Ryan frowned, sitting down next to Shane. “Hey man, what happened? Are you okay? Please talk to me.” The founder man gently placed a hand on Shane’s shoulder.

    Shane froze, before placing his phone down and reaching into Ryan’s bag, sighing deeply. “This is stupid..”

    Ryan stood up, leaning over Shane to get a better view. The taller man dug around momentarily, before pulling out the spirit box, and placing it on the desk in front of him. Shane shook his head before turning it on. “Ryan? Can you hear me?”

    Ryan frowned, shaking his head slightly at the sudden static in the air. “What? Of course I can fucking hear you, what’s going on?”

    Shane paused, controlling his breathing. “Can you say something Ryan? Maybe my name?”

    Ryan stepped forward, his confusion turning to anger. “What the fuck are you doing?”

    “Is-“ Shane broke, a small sob escaping him. “Is Sarah with you?”

    “Shane, of course she is! Is this a prank, because it’s not funny!”

    The lanky man said nothing.

    “Come on, look at me!” Ryan shoved Shane’s shoulder, and the man’s head snapped up. “R-Ryan?”

    Ryan sighed, nodding. “Yeah man, listen, I don’t know why you were ignoring-“

    “Is that you, Ry Guy?” Shane’s face was still facing Ryan, but his eyes were scanning the air around them.

    Ryan waved his hand in front of Shane’s face. He didn’t react. The noise from the spirit box was grating against Ryan’s skull.

    “Come on man, look at me!”

    Shane stood up, his eyes never connecting with Ryan’s. “Look, I know this is stupid, okay!? I’m the skeptic, I don’t believe in-“ he paused, collecting his breath once more. “-but here I am. Using this stupid box in this stupid office, and I want you to make me believe! I want you to prove me wrong!”

    Ryan stepped back from his friends sudden outburst. “Shane, I don’t understand-“

    The taller man threw his arms up, his face set to a manic determination. “Oh come on, Ryan! You’ve been waiting for this day! Well here I am! Spook me! Haunt my ass! Do something!”

    “Shane-“

    “Do something so I know you’re here! Because your dumb ass wouldn’t just leave, would it! No, you would haunt me out of spite! Come on!” His arms flailed slightly as he glared around the room. Tears were flowing freely down his face, collecting in the lines around his scowl.

    “Shane, What the fuck!” He tried to grab his friends arm, but his arms were moving so frantically that Ryan was afraid he would get hit.

    “Come on, you wimp! Haunt me! Give me a good ol’ Boogara scare! Say something! Anything!”

    Ryan felt a nervous panic setting in. Why wouldn’t Shane just look at him! He was right there! “Shane, I’m not a ghost!”

    Shane’s words were building into a hysteria as he flung his arms out. “Oh COME ON! You have to be here! You HAVE TO! You wouldn’t just play the hero and DIE without spending eternity rubbing my face in it! Ryan Bergara! Ghost hero! Saving skeptics at the cost of everything! You wouldn’t just LEAVE! YOU CAN'T JUST LEAVE!”

    Ryan felt hot tears prick his eyes. “SHANE! I AM NOT A GHOST!”

    They both froze as the spirit box churned, spurring out a string of words.

SHANE, I AM NOT A GHOST

    Ryan blinked, turning to his terrified friend. “Shane, what was that?”

    Shane swallowed hard, backing away slowly, his tears breaking down into sobs. “No. Oh no no no no no. That can’t- It can’t- This isn’t real. That can’t be real.”

    Ryan desperately reached out to Shane, his hand landing on his chest. “Shane, please look at me.”

    The spirit box was fuzzy, but repeated what Ryan said.

SHANE, PLEASE LOOK AT ME.

     Shane’s eyes grew wide, tremors shaking throughout his body. “Ryan I-I-“ he shook his head, his frown growing. “I- I can’t do this. I’m- I’m sorry-“

    Shane bolted out of the room, leaving all of his belongings behind.

    “Shane, wait!” Ryan wanted to follow him, get Shane to admit to orchestrating this fucking horrific prank, but the noise of the spirit box was making him sick.

    Ryan turned around to shut off the annoying machine, when he noticed that Shane’s phone was still on next to it. In bright red letters of a news site, bolded words screamed across the screen.

12 DEAD 37 INJURED AT BUZZFEED NEWS OFFICE SHOOTING

 

***********

 

    Ryan sighed as he waited impatiently at his desk. He left his laptop at Shane’s apartment again, and the man was running late for work.

    The office was abuzz with interns and employees dashing from project to project, deadline to deadline, and Ryan was anxious to join them.

    Ryan jumped out of his skin as he felt a slight squeeze on his shoulder. “Woah, ya okay man?”

    Sarah smiled warmly at him, amusement in her eyes at his fear. Her curls were carefully framed around her face this morning, accentuating her bright lipstick and stylish glasses. She seemed far too put together and chipper for such an early morning, which heavily contrasted Ryan’s own darkened eyes from lack of sleep.

    He laughed nervously. “Hey, you startled me.”

    “It’s not that hard to do.” She quipped naturally, leaning against his desk.

    He rolled his eyes good naturedly, trying to hide his grin. “Anyway, have you seen Shane yet today? He has my computer, and I need to start editing the newest unsolved episode.”

    She frowned slightly. “No, I haven’t heard from him, but I can text him to get a move on. He probably slept through his alarm again.” She pulled out her phone, and sent a quick text to her boyfriend.

    They both turned as they heard a loud chime behind them. Shane strode in towards them, his loose smile planted firmly on his face. His face was stylishly scraggly, with his hair loosely combed into a reasonable mess. He lazily carried Ryan’s bag, which he dropped unceremoniously on the smaller man’s lap. “Hey Guys, sorry I’m late. Traffic was awful!”

    Sarah grinned as she gave her boyfriend a quick peck on the cheek. “You walk to work, Shane.”

    “Yeah, and the foot traffic was awful!” He waved his arms dramatically. “There was a three jogger pile up on Main Street! Truly tragic.”

    Sarah rolled her eyes, grinning broadly. “Yeah, tragic. Hey, I need to go find Jen. I have some props I’m lending her for today. But I’ll see you for lunch, okay?”

    “Of course! I wouldn’t miss it for anything!” He winked, his grin growing larger.

     She smiled again, shaking her head. “Okay then Romeo. See you later, Ryan!”

    With a small wave, Sarah wandered off into the office.

    Shane grinned. “Should we head to the recording booth and start editing? I think today is the day we finally catch something big! Like a house settling!”

     “Shut up Shane.” Ryan glared at his friend, nudging him on the shoulder as the taller one laughed.

     Once in the recording booth, they both put on their headphones and got to work, occasionally stopping each other to listen to garbled evp or ear splitting spirit box jumble.

     Ryan was focused on Shane’s alone session when he felt Shane lightly touch his shoulder. “Hey Ry Guy, did you hear that?”

     He rolled his eyes at his friend. “Maybe I would if you didn’t interrupt me.”

    Shane shook his head. “No, I’m serious, did you hear that? It sounded like someone screaming.”

    Ryan took off his headphones, following the taller man to the door where they carefully stepped out. Shane gave a nervous look around, eventually turning back to Ryan. “Hey, I don’t see anything, maybe I misheard?”

    Ryan couldn’t focus, as he saw a man dressed completely in black storming down the hall, holding something in his hands.

    Ryan’s eyes widened, fear setting in. “Shane, look out!” He pushes his friend to the side as a bang echoed across the hall.

    Ryan watched in horror as his best friend looked at him, his left arm running red from blood.

    Shane was already falling to the ground, “Ry-“

    Ryan stumbled back as a burning heat blossomed across his chest, the bullet wound digging deeper into his body, and he uselessly tried to reach for his friend as the world disappeared around him.

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this for my friend, who has been trying to get me to post My first fanfic idea for months


End file.
